Crisis times demand switch in pricing strategy towards less ‘discount-based’ and more ‘value-based’ one;
The key to maintaining the levels of occupancy in crisis time is to retain your target market without backing up your finances. However, most hoteliers find it hard due to high pressure from competitors and tempting efforts to win the price game by discounts.
That is why rarely they see the huge opportunity in crisis management pricing policy: value over discounts, more service versus less price for the same service.
Hotels in crisis time are steady-ready to close half of their services (read: paid services) and take just any money from their guests for the same amenities (with the unchanging fixed costs amount). However, they rarely see the rabbit in the hole.
Providing more in general has a great psychological effect on anyone, not just the guest. Such policy already enforces higher guest conversion and increased customer loyalty: ‘while others don’t have this and this, they even thought of this service for me, so sweet’.
At the same time, hoping your guests don’t count their money while you count your losses is a total joke. They do, but crisis has changed their attitude towards many things, including their personal care.
Wise hotel managers (and especially those ones in sales) know how to demonstrate the guest they don’t lose money, they earn more value. One of these methods is to ‘hide’ the costs. Not every guest has the ability to quickly uncover your ‘secret’.
Most of them will be actively using your value-based services and enjoying them without even a trace of fear they lost a lot of money.
We discussed this issue with Mr Victor Bychkov, who has more than eight years of experience in hotel sales. And here is what Victor shared with us.
